MTL Mail/Baggage Car

[wcfn100]

The door openings can be made true with jewelers files after the doors are roughed out.

I wouldn't even try and cut the door either. The thick plastic is just asking for something bad to happen with a sharp blade.





And I'm not sure how high tech you guys need to be going with this.  We're talking about cutting squares and circles here. 

Jason

[chicken45]

@wcfn100 is that a Walthers car? I had one but sold it years ago. It's 2 feet too long (not a big deal) but I think the roof is what made me get rid of it. What are your plans?

[wcfn100]

@wcfn100 is that a Walthers car? I had one but sold it years ago. It's 2 feet too long (not a big deal) but I think the roof is what made me get rid of it. What are your plans?

Yeah, it's the Walthers car.  It will end up getting painted CGW.

Jason

[Lemosteam]

Let's see YOU do one ahahahaha!!
The porthole is not getting the brass ring treatment. It's already a foob and I don't want to invest time in that.

I have not had much luck with drilling large holes in thin plastic. It's flimsy. Plus, it's easier for me to paint ala cart. I hope to finish this tonight! Gonna weather the crap outta this!

I'm still deciding if I want one.  Since you are going through so much trouble cutting out the doors and adding new ones, why not make them slide?

By the way to drill holes in thin material, buy some 1/8" plexiglas and cut it into strips.  Get some small c clamps and clamp the thin stock between two strips and drill away.  Keep them alighed and you can drill many holes. Just clamp close to where you want to drill so the three pieces won't separate with the spiral action of the flutes of the drill. Slow speeds too so none of them melt.

[OldEastRR]

Portholes in thin plastic? If you're careful and mark the center point clearly, why not try a quick touch with a hot soldering iron? You can sand/file off the excess plastic around the edge of the hole.

[chicken45]

Not too shabby! Replaced the trucks, too.

[Dave V]

Dayum you work fast, Josh!     How did you get the porthole edge raised like that?

[bbussey]

Not too shabby! Replaced the trucks, too.

Looks good.  Now just add the body supports over the truck springs (since you swapped in the PRR trucks) and move the couplers inward and you'll be set! 

[chicken45]

Dayum you work fast, Josh!     How did you get the porthole edge raised like that?

My dirty little secret is that I used a smaller drill bit and a round file. That little lip is actually a burr from light reaming.  I think it worked out. Lol. Thanks for that info, Bryan! I likely would have forgotten that!

[sirenwerks]

Couldn't you use a thin-walled tubing, like what Ngineering offers?

[chicken45]

Couldn't you use a thin-walled tubing, like what Ngineering offers?

Yes, in fact, I did just that with my P70fBr.  Due to budget limitations, I didn't want to buy a whole pack and pay for shipping for just one project. I found tubing comparable at my LHS but I had to file it down which was not enjoyable. A lot of my files are nearing their end of their life.
Anyways, this was a quick and dirty foob restoration. The effort to payoff ratio for this for me was perfect.
Those MTL guys machine some damn fine parts. It was cool seeing how you guys did the stirrups, and how all the pieces fit together.

[sizemore]

A lot of my files are nearing their end of their life.

Are they "gummed" up? Files usually dont die unless living a hard life on a frozen tundra. A lot of times they just need to be cleaned really well.

I have one of these and it really brings them "back to life":



The S.

[chicken45]

They are.  Ive tried using brass and steel brushes but they don't take it far enough.  White metal kills my steel and diamond files.

[peteski]

They are.  Ive tried using brass and steel brushes but they don't take it far enough.  White metal kills my steel and diamond files.

The problem with file brushes (like the one shown above) is that their bristles are often too thick to clean out the material out of fine tooth files.  I often use the cheap steel brushes from Harbor Freight (they look like large toothbrush).  Those have much smaller diameter bristles which can get into finer teeth.

But it sounds like you have tried those brushes too.  You simply let the filed material build up too much.  You could try using a steel brush in a Dremel tool. If that doesn't work, spending 10-15 minutes with a hobby knife (with an old #11 blade) going through every tooth of the file will clean it out nicely.  The tip of the knife blade will follow the ridges in the file and push the metal buildup. I have doen that to my files when they really get clogged up.

[chicken45]

That's exactly the situation, Pete.
What files do you guys use?
I picked up a cheap set at a show.